Toy device for picking up objects from a plane face

ABSTRACT

A toy device picks up objects from a plane surface, where a set of wheels drives rotary blades adapted to move the objects up a guide plate toward a magazine. The blades are relatively stiff and comprise an integral hinge spaced from the axis of rotation of the blade wheel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention concerns a toy device for picking up objects from a planeface, where a set of wheels drives rotary blades adapted to guide theobjects into a magazine in the device.

A plurality of examples of devices of the said type is known, which mayin practice be divided into two different categories. The first categorycomprises i.e. a French patent 2631839, disclosing a unit for collectingtennis balls, which takes place by using plate-shaped blades. AnAmerican patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,918 discloses a toyanimal, which "eats" various objects which are moved into a magazine. ABritish patent GB 921,344 likewise provides an "eating" animal whereobjects or the "food" is moved into a magazine. An American patentspecification U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,662 provides a device for picking upobjects such as toys. The device disclosed in said specification has ablade wheel with stiff blades coated with foamed plastics to cushion theforces which the stiff blades impart to the objects upon contact.

It is common to the above-mentioned examples of prior art that allcomprise blade wheels with stiff blades, entailing that these devicesare only suitable for picking up round objects, since the blade wheel ifhitting a box-shaped block will often drive up on the block instead ofmoving it into the magazine. Thus, these devices are not suitable forpicking up building elements of a toy building set when these elementsmay be box-shaped. Further, the devices have the drawback that theirdynamic range, i.e. the difference between the largest and the smallestobject which may be picked up with the device, is rather limited.

It has been attempted to compensate this in a plurality of other patentspecifications belonging to the second category; an example of these isan American patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,922 which providesa device for picking up objects, such as toys. The blade wheel is heremade of a soft, spongy material. A German patent specification DE 873669 describes how the toy may be picked up with a device having a brushmounted rotatably about a horizontal axis for moving the toy into amagazine. A toy car with a blade wheel having soft and relatively thickblades is described in a Danish patent specification DK 153 054. It iscommon to this second category of devices for picking up objects from aplane face that a horizontally positioned blade wheel with blades ofsoft, spongy or porous materials is provided at the front of the device.This has the drawback that the blades will rapidly be worn anddestroyed. Further materials of this type are difficult to clean, sothat, in addition to the limited durability, also the difficult cleaningmust be mentioned as one of the drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a toy device for picking upobjects from a plane surface and moving them to a magazine, where thedevice must be capable of picking up objects having widely differentsizes and shapes by means of a blade wheel, and the blades of the bladewheel must simultaneously be solid and so shaped that the device canpick up box-shaped blocks, even if a rotary blade wheel hits a blockfrom above.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that each blade isformed of a relatively stiff material and comprises an integral hingespaced from the axis of rotation of the blade wheel. As long as it doesnot encounter serious resistance from the objects to be picked up, ablade having such an integral hinge will operate like the stiff bladewheel according to the prior art, while the integral hinge willcontribute with its effect when a blade is loaded substantially whencontacting an object to be picked up.

This load may be that a blade hits a box-shaped block from above. In theprior art, the vehicle would lift, but the integral hinge here entailsthat a blade will bend and move past the object which will then beguided to the magazine by the next blade.

The integral hinge is preferably formed in parallel with the axis ofrotation of the blade wheel, but in some cases, e.g. if the blade wheelis divided into two parts in an axial direction, it may be expedient toform the integral hinge so as to provide a reverse snow-plow effect,i.e. large objects are moved towards the center of the toy device whencontacting the blades. Each blade may be provided with several radiallyspaced integral hinges so that the blade will be resilient. The integralhinge preferably consists in a longitudinal weakening which, toreinforce the hinge and counteract nick formation, is terminated in abead at the ends of the blade, the bead forming a reinforced portion ofmaterial between the blade parts divided by the integral hinge.

The blade wheel moves the objects into the magazine via a guide platesubstantially following the curvature of the blade wheel. If a block isabout to become jammed between a blade wheel and the lower part of thisguide plate, the integral hinge entails that the object will besubjected to an upwardly directed force since the point of attack on theblade plate is brought closer to the axis of rotation of the blade wheelas the integral hinge is bent. This effect is increased if the blades,at least in the areas contacting objects, have friction increasingmeans. These means may be areas with grooves in the axial direction ofthe blade or may consist in a rubber coating on part of the blade.

The guide plate may advantageously be mounted resiliently so that it maybe displaced from a position of rest in a direction which substantiallyfollows the movement of the blade wheel. This together with theoperation of the integral hinge counteracts Jamming of objects betweenthe guide plate and the tip of a blade. For reasons of production, thedriving wheel set often constitutes an integral part of the blade wheeland defines it at the sides.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be explained more fully below with reference to thedrawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a toy deviceaccording to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blade wheel and the guide plate inthe device shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the operation of an integral hinge of ablade wheel,

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the blades according to theinvention,

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of a blade according to the invention,

FIG. 6 shows a fourth embodiment of a blade according to the invention,and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an embodiment with a resilient guide plateaccording to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A toy device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a housing 10 which is box-shapedin the preferred embodiment and is adapted to be moved forward on a setof wheels 40 at the front end of the housing and one or more slide knobs(not shown) at the rear end of the housing. Upwardly the housing has ahandle 20 with which a playing child can have a good grip on the toydevice. The handle 20 extends like a bridge over a depression in theupper side of the housing. The rear end of the actual housing serves asa magazine for collected toys, which will be explained more fully below.Access to the magazine is ensured through a removable door 30 engaginground its edge inwardly extending flanges on the walls of the housing10. The plate 30 is retained in a closed position by a plurality ofknobs 31, so that the plate 30 may advantageously be made of an elasticmaterial so that its resilient properties may be used for moving theplate 30 past the knobs 31. The rear wall of the housing 10 upwardly hasa centrally provided opening or depression 32 by means of which a usercan grip below the plate 30, When the objects to be picked up are formedby building elements from a toy building set, the plate 30 mayadvantageously be formed with coupling studs on the upper side so thatthe plate may be built together with These building elements.

At its front end the housing 10 has a horizontally arranged blade wheelwhich may be rotated about a horizontal shaft 70. The blade wheel has aplurality of radially protruding blades 50. The blade wheel mayadvantageously be integral with the wheel set 40 and thus follows therotation of the wheels. The preferred embodiment comprises preciselyfive sets of blades 50 extending radially from the shaft 70, Each ofthese blades has an integral hinge formed at a distance from the axes ofrotation of the blade wheel. The wheels 40 may be formed with a rubberring or a rubber coating 41 on their rolling face so that the toy devicehas a better grip on the base.

FIG. 2 shows the blade wheel and a guide plate 80 arranged behind theblade wheel in the housing 10 and along which objects picked up by theblade wheel are moved to the magazine in the housing 10 disposed behindthe guide plate. The blade wheel in this case has four set of blades. Itwill be seen that in the axial direction the blade wheel is divided intotwo blade sections. i.e. is divided in the center. The wheel set 40 alsoconstitutes an integral part of the blade wheel through the shaft 70.Thus, the blade wheel is driven directly by the rotation of the wheelset 40. Each integral hinge 60 here extends in parallel with the shaft70 of the blade wheel and is formed by a weakening in the blade 50. Thisweakening will usually be in the form of a thickness reduction, but mayalso be provided by punching portions of material along the line formedby the integral hinge, so that the two parts of the blade are connectedby a plurality of bridges transversely To the integral hinge 60. With acontinuous reduction in thickness the integral hinge 60, however, tendsto cause breaks (nick formation) at the ends of the blades, but this maybe avoided by terminating the thickness reduction in a bead 55. Such abead, which connects the two parts of the blade divided by the integralhinge 60, effectively prevents such nick formation.

A wheel 40 will usually only be contiguous with the blade wheel throughthe shaft 70, but it may be considered expedient in some cases that alsothe blade part positioned between the integral hinge 60 and the shaft 70is contiguous with The inner side of the wheel. The guide plate 80 willusually follow the contour of the blade wheel, but this is not necessaryif a sufficiently high speed is imparted To an object when contacting ablade 50, so that the object will be able to pass a guide plate 80 afterhaving contacted the blade only once.

The resilient properties of the individual blade 50 are determined bythe length of the integral hinge 60, the shape of the integral hinge 60as well as the selection of material. FIG. 3 schematically shows thehinge upon contact with a relatively large, box-shaped object 100. Itwill be seen that a blade 50 will bend about the integral hinge 60 whena box-shaped object 100 is present between the guide plate 80 and theblade 50. As indicated in broken line, the rotation of the blade wheelcontinues, which results in further bending of the blade 50 about theintegral hinge 60. In case of sufficient friction between the object 100and the contact area on the blade 50, the object 100, as shown in dottedline, will follow the movement of the blade 50 and be tilted about thecontact point with the guide plate 80. The object 100 can hereby bemoved up the guide plate 80 and into the magazine.

If the material of which the blade wheel is manufactured does notprovide sufficient friction between the object 100 and the blade 50, thefriction properties of the blade may be improved by providing the bladewith friction increasing means in the contact area, e.g. in the form ofa rubber coating 90, which appears from FIG. 4. FIG. 5. shows how thefriction increasing means may be formed by grooves 75 in the axialdirection of the blade wheel.

Small objects usually pose no problems when picked up to the magazine,since the blade wheel, because of the horizontal distance of the shaft70 from the front edge on the guide plate 80, will impart asubstantially horizontal force to these small objects toward the guideplate 80 and up said plate. These small objects will therefore not beable to bend the individual blades 50 about the integral hinge 60, sothe blade wheel will operate as if it just had stiff blades 50. Largeobjects, which are e.g. larger than the horizontal distance between theshaft 70 and the front edge of the guide plate 80, will be caused tocontact both the guide plate 80 and the blade 50 before the blade 50reaches a vertical position, so that the object 100 will be affected bya not insignificant force in a downward direction, and such an object100 will therefore with great probability be jammed between the guideplate and a blade according to the prior art. This may be obviated byproviding the blade 50 with friction coatings 90, 75, optionally withadditional integral hinges so that greater bending may be achieved. FIG.6 shows another solution to this problem where the blade 50, in thecontact area with the large block 100, is formed with a flange 110 inthe axial direction of the blade and perpendicularly to it. The object100 will thereby be subjected to a force at a relatively high place sothat the object 100 will tilt about the front edge of the guide plate 80and up said plate.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative embodiment where a blade wheel has aplurality of blades 50 with integral hinges in an axial direction. Theblades 50 move the objects up a guide plate 80. To prevent the object100 from getting jammed between the blade 50 and the guide plate 80, theguide plate 80 is mounted to be resilient with pins 150 at each sidewhich are adapted to run in guide tracks 140 in the walls of the housing10. The housing 10 is formed with an eye 130 at the bottom, and acorresponding eye 131 is formed on the rear side of the guide plate 80,so that the guide plate 80 may be displaced along the track 140 underthe action of a force from a spring 120 tensioned between the eyes 130and 131. The guide plate 80 may thus be displaced from a position ofrest in a direction substantially following the movement of the bladewheel under the action of a force increasing with the distance from theposition of rest.

The position of the integral hinge on a blade is determined by the sizeof the largest object which the blade wheel must be capable of pickingup. The distance between the integral hinge and the tip of a blade mustbe so great that the largest object to be picked up must be capable ofbending the blade about the integral hinge. In the preferred embodimentthe blade wheel is composed of two sections in an axial direction, butalso this number depends upon the size of the objects to be picked up.

Since the integral hinge 60 is spaced from the axis of rotation of theblade wheel, a blade when bent will apply a pull-force to an object in adirection toward the integral hinge. The toy device of the inventionwill hereby be able to move large box-shaped objects into the magazine,so that the dynamic range of the toy device is increased considerablyover the prior art. By dynamic range is meant the difference between thelargest and the smallest block which the device is able to pick up.

The invention has been described in connection with a magazine insidethe device, but nothing prevents the device from being formed with aplatform to which the objects are moved.

I claim:
 1. A toy device for picking up objects from a plane face, saiddevice comprising a housing; a set of wheels (40) mounted for rotationto said housing blades (50) mounted for rotation to said housing torotate with said wheels and extending partially into said housing, amagazine disposed within said housing in a position whereby rotation ofsaid blades (50) guides the objects into said magazine, said bladesconsisting of a relatively stiff material, and wherein each bladecomprises an integral hinge that pivots about a discrete line (60)spaced from the axis of rotation of the blade.
 2. A toy device accordingto claim 1, and wherein the integral hinge (60) extends in parallel withthe axis of rotation.
 3. A toy device according to claim 1, and whereineach blade (50) has more than one integral hinge (60).
 4. A toy deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein said integral hinge divides said blade intotwo plate-shaped parts and wherein a reinforcement in the form of a bead(55) is provided between the plate-shaped parts of each blade at one endof said integral hinge.
 5. A toy device according to claim 1, andwherein the blades (50) have friction increasing means (90, 95) at leastin the areas which are caused to contact the objects.
 6. A toy deviceaccording to claim 5, and wherein the blades rotate about an axis ofrotation and the friction increasing means are areas with grooves (95)extending parallel to said rotational axis of the blades.
 7. A toydevice according to claim 5, and wherein the blades (50) are providedwith a rubber coating (90) in the areas caused to contact the objects.8. A toy device according to claim 1, and wherein a guide plate (80) isformed adjacent the blades (50) and is constructed so that the guideplate (80) substantially follows the curvature of the blade wheel,whereby the blades can move an object (100) up the guide plate (80) fromthe plane face towards the magazine.
 9. A device according to claim 8,and wherein the guide plate (80) is mounted to be resilient so that itmay be displaced from a position of rest in a direction substantiallyfollowing the movement of the blades under the action of a forceincreasing with the distance from the position of rest.
 10. A deviceaccording to claim 1, and wherein the set of wheels (40) constitutes anintegral part of the blades and defines the sides of the blades.